The breasts or mammae are accessory glands of the generative system. Gray's Anatomy defines the female breasts as "two large hemispherical eminences situated toward the lateral aspect of the pectoral region, corresponding to the intervals between the third and sixth or seventh ribs, and extending from the side of the sternum to the axilla." The breasts increase in size during pregnancy and become engorged with milk following delivery.
To reduce the pain and leakage associated with engorgement, non-nursing women traditionally turn to elastic bandages, tight bras or old-fashioned wraps as alternatives to milk drying drugs which entail risks of undesirable side effects. Nursing mothers, too, turn to such devices, both for added supporting during jogging or other exercise, and to alleviate engorgement during the transition period at conclusion of breast-feeding.
Elastic breast binders or tight bras can cut into the breasts, causing damage or clogging breast ducts, which can lead to painful mastitis. Also, such devices apply pressure unevenly to breast tissue and can be so tight as to constrict circulation or breathing. Conventional non-elastic binders, comprising continuous plain strips of, e.g., 9".times.44" medium weight cotton flannel are more comfortable, but provide no ready means of fastening, so can be self-applied only with much difficulty. The degree of maneuverability necessary to encircle the body with the binder and properly apply safety pins actually stimulates lactation, so contributes to the engorgement problem.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,648 discloses a breast binder comprising left, right and central trapezoidal panels, wherein the left and right panels are brought into overlapping relationship over the breasts and held in place by VELCRO.TM. hook-and-loop closure elements. To hold ice bags between the overlapping panels, complementary VELCRO.TM. fasteners are positioned at both sides of the overlapping panels. The top side of each overlapping panel is made convex. The described binder has several disadvantages. In order to achieve the desired compression, the binder must be tightly wrapped. However, this interferes with non-constricted breathing which requires allowance for chest expansion and contraction. The positioning of the fasteners centrally of the binder width places them awkwardly in positions to be pressed against the chest wall, and interferes with placement of ice bags in the axilla regions. Furthermore, no mechanism is provided beyond the tightness of the wrap to hold the bags in place. Maintenance of the shape of the panel convex sides, moreover, requires starching or stiff material, which interferes with wearer comfort.